As the criticism continues to correctly mount, the Osteenites are out in full force defending the indefensible...

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Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! -- Isaiah 5: 20 (ESV)

https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/67066-some-christians-hate-joel-osteen-more-than-they-love-the-truth-and-that-s-wrong

Joel Osteen broke the Internet over this past weekend. When you run the largest church in America, tour the country with "Nights of Hope", and live in a 10 million dollar mansion I expect a little more than fumbled PR stunts and trying to recreate history. When people were shaming Osteen over the weekend I waited because I do not want to be unfair to anyone and I do not live in Houston. Come Tuesday morning however, we had enough credible reporting and the words of Joel Osteen himself to be able to draw several conclusions -- none of which were favorable to Osteen and the way this debacle was handled. Nevertheless I expected the Kool-Aid sycophants to come out in full force and they have not disappointed because in the last days church you can preach a false gospel but don't you dare say a word about my cult of personality pastor. But as the saying goes, politics also makes strange bedfellows and that includes the politics of church. Beloved, the church is a multi-million if not billion dollar industry and Joel Osteen is one of the kingpins. I remember when Mark Driscoll was trying to claw his way back into the sphere of church relevance Brian Houston agreed to interview him as part of the annual Hillsong conference on one condition. He had to apologize publicly during the interview to Joel Osteen for criticisms leveled against him earlier in Driscoll's career. After Driscoll was done kissing the ring he was soon back in good graces and welcomed back into the complex with loving arms. I say this as a backdrop to an article today (linked above) on Charisma News from Ed Stetzer, who claims to not be an Osteen fan but felt compelled to defend him. Of course he did. Though he may not agree with his false gospel they are both part of the same machine and rule number one is protect the brand. Let us reason together in reviewing this article and clearing up some of the smoke and mirrors being utilized by the Osteenites over the past couple of days.

"So, I never thought I'd write a post defending Joel Osteen. But, seriously, the floodgates of media unleashed against Joel Osteen, based on an unclear church statement and fanned by agenda-driven social media, tells me that we have a cultural problem. The fact that many Christians have joined in shows me it is a Christian problem. It's wrong in both cases, but disturbing to see some Christians joining in. It seems some Christians hate Joel Osteen more than they love the truth. I'd expect that from the world, but I hoped for better in the church." -- Ed Stetzer

Let the excuse making and recreation of history commence! The unclear church statement was actually a very clear statement that the church would be closed due to the storm making the surrounding access ways inaccessible. This was not vague or ambiguous. It was simply false. By the way, if they had just come out later and said they had mistakenly made that post then I think everyone moves on but instead they tried to cover up and pretend they were doing things they were not. It is not about hating Joel Osteen. I could care less. It is about the people of Houston. The world was busy helping the victims while "America's Pastor" was holed up in his mansion. Even local churches of much more meager means and resources had listed themselves as open shelters. How do we know this? Because in the follow up post from Lakewood on Sunday they directed people to shelters and listed other churches. Do you know who wasn't listed? Lakewood Church. So the notion that they did not close their doors is a lie. They purposefully guided people away from Lakewood and gave them other churches they could go to if they needed shelter. So there was no agenda driven social media. There was righteous and it appears correct outrage that a man who preaches puppies and pancakes for everyone was AWOL for the entire weekend while his city drowned. It is not a cultural problem. It is not a social media problem. It is a church problem because we refuse to call what is evil good, as the key verse teaches us we must.

"So we are clear, Osteen and I are not on the same page theologically. And I have serious problems with the prosperity gospel. Furthermore, his platitudes and lifestyle have not helped in this moment. But do we have to join the deluge of hatred toward him for what is a questionable situation--at best? In other words, I get people upset about Osteen's theology and approach to his work. But why are so many Christians joining in on spreading a false narrative about his actions in Houston? Apparently, Osteen had canceled church on Sunday, and the church indicated (perhaps inarticulately) that the church was impassible. (They did not say it was flooded, though who needs to worry about facts when we hate someone, right?) The church directed their people, and presumably others, to take shelter with friends, family or at the George Brown Convention Center. As the waters rose in Houston, social media spread the word that Lakewood Church, housed in a 16,800-seat arena, was turning people away who were seeking shelter. Nope. They said that is not what happened. Fast forward 12 hours, and the facts began to surface that the church itself was flooded in a few sections. And Lakewood responded that only three people came for shelter, and they had all been helped. So, well, maybe we might see that facts are our friends." -- Ed Stetzer

Only the corrupt church can paint Joel Osteen as the victim here. Let's examine this alleged false narrative argument. Osteen actually cancelled all weekend services and as outlined the reason was not "inarticulate." It was a lie. The post stated the church was inaccessible due to flooding but that was untrue. Ed Stetzer's comment here that they never mentioned flooding is equally untrue. Here is the post from Lakewood's Facebook page and to Joel's credit it is still up:

"Dear Houstonians! Lakewood Church is inaccessible due to severe flooding! We want to make sure you are safe. Please see the list below for safe shelters around our city, and please share this with those in need!" -- Lakewood Church Facebook Page

The next skewed fact Stetzer claims is the narrative that directing people away from Lakewood, which has been established, is somehow not "turning people away." That is exactly what that means! I did not see one message over the weekend that suggested that someone was in Lakewood Church refusing to let people in. The point was the church was closed, the community was informed of the closures on Saturday and then on Sunday they blamed it on flooding and directed them to shelters, including smaller churches. So yes, facts are indeed our friends. The next bogus fact is the several sections of Lakewood being flooded. Besides being unverified, my response would be who cares? The Osteenites latched onto these posted photos as proof that they were right to not open their doors. What do you think? Do you think that none of the other shelters had flooding issues? Even the George Brown Convention Center that Stetzer references flooded out on the first floor yesterday! They still serviced who was there. They still accepted those that came. This is the point that Stetzer and Osteen defenders keep missing. No one expected Lakewood Church to be a perfect shelter. They just didn't think that the best they could do was say they were closed, lie about flooding, ask people to donate money and supplies, and direct them to other makeshift shelters that have a fraction of the space and resources that the largest church in America has. That is not hate you hear dripping from my words. It is disgust. Not so much at Joel Osteen. He handled this poorly but we are all human. It is for the defenders who wish to muddy the waters and shame Christians who rightfully rose up and said we can do better than this when people are hurting.

"And just because you hate (or just have theological concerns with him) Osteen does not entitle you to your own set of facts. I'm not saying they did not bungle their first statement. I am saying that a lot of Christians spread false statements. Let's let the world spread lies as we stand for truth. Fact-checking sites such as snopes.com give mixed reviews and no clear answer on the amount of flooding at Lakewood. But that's not the main point. We may never know just how hard it would have been to organize a relief effort at a facility that has been prone to flooding in the past. Before Lakewood bought the building, it was the Compaq Center, where the Houston Rockets played. In past decades, the arena actually had been closed in really bad weather during the Rockets' glory days. The truth is that many were casting and spreading judgment about a situation that they could not possibly know in its entirety." -- Ed Stetzer

This is hilarious. In an article devoid of the truth, Stetzer wants to stand for the truth as Christians. Physician heal thyself. Snopes did mark the question of flooding a "mixture" but Stetzer deftly avoids what it did reveal. Snopes determined that the area surrounding the church was under a flood advisory but not a warning and that Houston police said they had zero calls from that area. Look at the hoops Stetzer must jump through to try and defend this. We may never know how difficult it would have been to organize a relief effort? Is that the new baseline for Christian charity Ed? How difficult it might be? Do you think any of these efforts underway everywhere but Lakewood are easy? Do you think Lakewood is the only edifice "prone to flooding?" Judging situations is what we are called to do biblically when dealing with the church. Here is what we know that is not in dispute:

1. As early as Wednesday, every forecast had Houston facing calamity. That was when a responsible church would start planning for its role or at the very least, explain why it could not to avoid the confusion that ensued.

2. Saturday, Lakewood posts that services are canceled.

3. Sunday, Lakewood posts that it is inaccessible due to severe flooding and provides a list of shelters for people to go to, including multiple churches are far less size and resources.

4. While criticism was mounting it exploded Sunday, especially when it was widely and correctly reported that there was no flooding in and around Lakewood, as now confirmed by weather and police authorities.

5. Withering under the public shaming, Osteen scrambles Monday to mitigate the PR nightmare. He releases a statement that says they never closed their doors, which is untrue based on the Facebook posts. Directing people away from your facility is the same thing. They also announce they will be a distribution center for those who need essentials like diapers, formulae and baby food. Realize that this means they will ask for donations from people and then distribute them. The last part of the statement says they are prepared to take people in once shelters reach capacity. This further supports the clear notion that he did not want Lakewood to become a shelter. Why attach this caveat of when shelters are full?

These are all undisputed facts beloved. The best people like Ed Stetzer can muster after facing these facts is to attack the people who rightly criticized and then mutter something vaguely incoherent and irrelevant about whether Lakewood could have successfully functioned as a shelter. I am no math expert but I can compute this -- you help zero percent of the people you do not try to help. Let us also not lose sight of the unseemliness of all of this. This is a man who spreads a false gospel leading people to hell who is worth upwards of 50 million dollars and lives in a 10 million dollar mansion. To my knowledge he has contributed nothing from his own wealth (although he may have chosen to not make it public in fairness) while soliciting donations from his congregation for money and supplies. I do not know how anyone who calls themselves a Christian can defend this. Stetzer closes his article by trying to play junior psychologist and reprimand people who can clearly discern better than he can. Most of it is not worth repeating except this nugget:

"Stop the selective listening. Let's face it. Many already hate Osteen, so they are hungry for a scandal. Here's the tough question: Are we hungry for a strategic or moral failure at Lakewood, too? As I mentioned above, I have serious thoughts about Osteen's theology. But I need not plug my ears so that I can't hear what is true." -- Ed Stetzer

Stetzer's entire premise has been built on some nefarious group of people who secretly hate Joel Osteen. For most, the truth is what matters and since Osteen does not preach the truth he gets called out on it. What is interesting here however is what Ed Stetzer thinks is a tough question. Are we hungry for a strategic failure at Lakewood? That is not a tough question if you love Jesus and His Gospel. The answer is a resounding yes. Joel Osteen is a wolf of the highest order. He preaches multiple heresies, never preaches sin and repentance, and is leading untold numbers of people to the broad path. What happened with this storm is separate from these facts. This weekend was about the world seeing Osteen for the fraud he is. The doctrinal issues are about the church seeing him for the fraud he is. It is a shame that the world is ahead of the church on this one. No one is suggesting that you need to plug your ears. Just open your eyes.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- August 30, 2017

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.